Twister
by AppleLass
Summary: A Jo/Zane fic about what would happen if, at the end of season 5 episode 5, instead of kissing him as her answer, Jo just left. Naturally Zane would follow. Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: A Jo/Zane fic about what would happen if, at the end of season 5 episode 5, instead of kissing him as her answer, Jo just left? Naturally Zane would follow. I don't own the characters nor am I making any money off of this.

###

Jo took off, out of Eureka, with barely a look back in her rear view mirror. Yes, she was running again; from Zane, from her fear, and her indecision. He had asked her to decide, once and for all, and she had left. She hadn't meant it to be her final answer but a request for more time, but that would probably equal the same thing by the time she came back.

She drove west. Drove all night until she pulled over in a rest area and slept in her car. She grabbed some junk food and coffee and then kept driving. She was racing…. something.

She stopped when she hit Oklahoma, although that was more a matter of necessity than anything else. She blew a tire on the highway and although she could fix the tire herself, something seemed off with her alignment. She had listened to her brothers obsess over cars when she was younger to know that could be a bigger issue, so she went looking for a garage. Normally she'd just have Henry check it out during his lunch break but…

The man in the garage said they could do it tomorrow morning. "I don't have a cell phone with me," she started to explain, but he waived her off before she even got to the part about her ridiculously interrupted walkabout.

"If you're visiting, try staying at the hotel right in town. There should be rooms this time of year. I can call for you over there."

She left her car there, declined a ride, and walked the mile back to the main street of the small town. She rented a room at a motel called the Happy Inn with faded yellow curtains and a white picket fence. The sign advertised weekly rates, and several of the porches had flower pots and the odd bike or moving box. She wondered what time of year The Happy Inn didn't have rooms available.

The woman behind the counter when she checked in wore a name badge that read Mable. Jo gave her a half-hearted smile as she took her room key.

"Breakfast comes with your room, and it's served from 6-9. Nothing fancy, but there's coffee."

Jo nodded. Had Mable seen the circles under her eyes? Her dreams were full of Zane. She laid down on the worn bedspread and closed her eyes, not even bothering to remove her boots.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I don't own the characters nor am I making any money off of this. But if you know of a way, I'd gladly donate it to bring the show back.

###

"She's gone, Zane."

Carter's words, said through the open doorway of his house under-construction house, were surprising. Zane never really thought she would leave. Not really, not since he had gotten out of the weird Matrix. Jo had led the team to find the Astraeus crew members personally, even though she was technically on a leave of absence. She had come back for them - maybe even for him. But apparently he'd been wrong.

Carter must have seen something in Zane's face because he began to reach out, but Zane didn't want his pity. Not after what Carter had done with Jo when he went into the Matrix. Zane scowled just thinking about it.

Zane cut him off before he could speak. "Did she say where she was going?"

The sheriff shrugged, which Zane took to mean he couldn't or wouldn't help him. Either way, he was done here.

Zane took the steps two at a time up from the bunker. He swung his helmet up onto his head and internally cursed women everywhere. Why the hell did Jo have to be so difficult? She was the one who had come into his timeline all in love and lost, and now she was the one running away from him. It didn't make any sense!

He made up his mind to forget her. He was going crazy with her indecision. They couldn't be together in public, but they couldn't keep their hands off each other whenever they happened to end up alone.

But on the way to work his anger dissipated and he had already reconsidered. Zane was nothing if not persistent, and it grated on him to have lost her just when he himself had figured out what he wanted. No, she wasn't going to get away that easily.

Zane swung by his office to pick up a data pad. A very particular one. As he turned to leave Fargo passed by the open doorway. He jogged to catch up.

"Jo left," Zane stated without preamble.

"What?" Fargo looked down at his phone closely. "Oh, there it is."

"And I'm going after her."

That got Fargo's attention, who looked up again quickly. He was so distracted he almost ran into someone, but he barely navigated around without breaking eye contact with Zane. "Do you even know where's gone?"

"I don't need to." Zane waved the data pad in the air with one hand.

"Good luck," Fargo said with sad, forced enthusiasm. "And I appreciate you coming to tell me personally."

"Nah, you just happened to be walking by." But Zane winked at Fargo before walking backwards a few steps towards the exit. He didn't want to waste any time. Not now that he knew what he wanted.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't own any of these people, and I'm not making money off of it. Sorry these chapters are so short - I'm working on them during my work breaks.

###

Jo woke to the sound of a motorcycle engine outside. Looking over at the clock, she couldn't tell if she had taken a nap for a few hours, or slept the entire night through. The sunlight streaming through the window finally tickled her brain back into wakefulness. All night then, it seemed.

She got up stiffly and took down her ponytail to relieve some of the pressure from her building headache. She was thinking about taking a shower and had already headed into the bathroom when there was a light knock on the hotel door.

She started the water running and decided to make it a hot shower. Something was unsettling her, and her training kicked in. She had begun disrobing but had not finished, so she still wore a T-shirt over her underwear. Her hands gripped her gun which was thrust out ahead of her as she nudged the bathroom door open.

There was a scratching sound from the hotel door – someone was trying to pick the lock. Her gun trained on the door, she forced herself to breath calmly as she waited.

The lock clicked, the handle turned, and it began to swing open.

"Jo?"

She sighed and dropped her gun. "Zane?" The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins though, which made her cross. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." His eyes flickered to the mussed bed, the open bathroom door behind her, and her state of undress. "Are you here with anyone?" He asked, a little bit harsh, a little bit shocked.

Jo rolled her eyes as she put her gun down and crossed her arms over her chest. "No! Of course not! I was ***trying*** to take a shower before you broke into my hotel room."

"I did knock," he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. The unhappy look had faded from his face and now his eyes were enjoying the view of her bare legs. "Can I help you with that, maybe? If you recall, I'm pretty useful in the shower."

Jo's face flushed hot for a second, but seriousness took over shortly after. She moved towards him, but not too close. "Zane… I left for a reason. To clear my head, to figure out –"

"Yeah, but I don't think that's fair," he said, moving towards her and meeting her before she had a chance to move back again. "I feel like I just got you back and now you're leaving me again. If you're going to give life without me a chance, I think it's only fair you give life with me a chance."

"Zane – I've already done that. ***We've*** already done that."

He shrugged. "Well I thought I'd give it a chance anyway. Do we get wifi in here?" He moved passed her, seemingly ignoring her semi-naked state, and sat on the edge of the bed with a tablet he pulled out from his leather jacket pocket. He looked up at her shocked/questioning expression. "I do still have some work but I can work on it remotely," he said by way of explanation.

She considered trying to bodily remove him from the room. That would end up with them wrestling and usually that didn't lead to anything productive. She could call the cops to have him removed, but Zane of all people didn't need that on his record. She didn't think she could argue with him – he'd followed her out to Oklahoma just to sit in her hotel room and do work.

Finally she sighed again and went back into the bathroom for her shower, shaking her head. She was still jittery, but removing herself from the room was probably the best option.


End file.
